I agree in part with Bill and Charlie, but find myself wondering about the
implicit assumption that good technicians make good managers.  However, that is
probably best left for a management listserv.

Cheers!

Steve Hoagland

Charlie Hathaway wrote:

> I agree with Bill.
>
> But I would suggest that a long-term view also be considered:
>
> Could a PhD leaving academia/research eventually come to understand
> institutional budgetary concerns and cost accounting standards?  Probably.
>
> Could a CPA/CRA without research experience eventually come to understand
> what it is like to start an experiment on Monday, work on it all week, find
> out it was a flop on Friday, and then spend all day Saturday writing a
> grant proposal?  Probably not.
>
> Remember:  Marv Levy DID play college football!
>
> Charlie Hathaway
>
> At 08:45 AM 5/10/99 -0400, you wrote:
> >Mitchell, I think you should be quite flexible about your requirements.
> Folks
> >wander into research administration through a variety of routes, none of
> which
> >is automatically better than any of the others.  There is no prescribed means
> >of preparation for this job.
> >
> >I recommend listing the bare minimum of qualifications (Master's required,
> >doctorate preferred; 3-5 years experience working in higher ed; etc.) but
> >listing the sorts of things you expect this person to do.  Will s/he write
> >proposals?  Then list proposal-writing experience.  Create budgets or oversee
> >post-award accounting?  Then mention those tasks, perhaps require some
> >experience.  Find funding sources?  Experience with funding agencies?
> Mention
> >that.
> >
> >But the most important things may be ability to work with faculty in
> stressful
> >situations; high degree of tolerance for ambiguity; ability to work on many
> >tasks at once; sense of humor; excellent communication skills, both
> written and
> >oral; and--most important of all--willingness to do whatever has to be
> done to
> >get proposals out the door.
> >
> >The trick, I think, is to write a job description which is flexible enough to
> >attract a bunch of highly qualified candidates, select the few most likely
> and
> >interview them; if they don't wash, keep going down the list.
> >
> >Regards and good luck,
> >Bill Campbell (Ph.D.)
> >Director, Grants & Research
> >University of Wisconsin-River Falls
> >
> >
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> >
> **************************************
> Charles B. Hathaway, Ph.D., Director
> Office of Grant Support
> 908A Belfer
> Albert Einstein College of Medicine
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> Bronx, NY 10461
> Phone: 718 430-3642     Fax: 718 430-8822
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